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Suititnary  of  fionors  Receivea 

medal,  Rova!  Jlaaemy,  municl),   i$74 

Salon,  Bonora^le  mention,  .......  \m 

**Ee  Retonr,'*  purchased     the  Trench  go^jemment  for  the 

mnsee  de  EnxentDurg,   i$7^ 

Sold  medal.  International  EKhiDltion,  nice.  Trance,   *     .  i$$4 

Prize  fund  exhibition.  Hew  VorR,  Prize  $2,500,   •     .  i$$5 

Salon,  Sold  medal,   i$$$ 

exposition  Universalle,  Paris,  Sillier  medal,   ♦     .  . 

l)ors  Conconrs,   i$90 

Che^jalier  de  la  Eeglon  D'fionnenr,  .     .     .     .     .  mi 

Officier  D'flcademie,                                      .  \tn 

JlrchduRe  £ari  Cndu^lg  of  Unstria,  gold  medal,    .     .  m% 

elected  Jtssociate  of  Rational  Academy  of  Design,     .     .  i$95 

medal,  Atlanta  exposition,  8a.,  

Pictures  Purchased  by  ana  Tncorporatea  in  the  Tollowins museums: 
Syaney,  Australia  J  Grenoble,  Trance?  Eouisv)ille,  Hv*,  Polytechnic  Institute  j 
Pennsylvjania  Hcaaemy  of  Tine  Hrts?  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  museum  j  Springfielcl, 
mass.,  museum^ 


I 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2015 


https://archive.org/details/collectionofchoiOOaver 


fienry  mosler 


?^<HAT  a  prophet  is  not  without  honor  save  in  his  own 
I  country  is  exemplified  in  the  case  of  Henry  Mosler, 
I  the  American  Artist,  who  now  returns  to  his  native 
country  after  an  absence  of  twenty  years.  In  1879,  on  the 
occasion  of  his  second  exhibition  in  the  Paris  Salon,  Mr. 
M osier  received  the  high  distinction  of  having  his  picture 
purchased  by  the  French  Government  and  hung  in  the  Lux- 
embourg Museum.  Mr.  Mosler  is  the  first  American  artist 
so  honored,  and  it  may  be  added  that  so  few  have  been  paid 
a  like  compliment  afterwards  that  their  number  can  be  counted 
on  the  fingers  of  one  hand. 

Mr.  Mosler's  work  has  received  the  stamp  of  approval 
from  the  greatest  European  artists  and  critics.  No  one  at  the 
present  time  equals  him  in  the  thoroughness  of  his  knowledge 
of  the  methods  of  the  masters  in  art  in  drawing  and  color. 
His  work  is  not  defaced  by  mannerism,  nor  does  he  ever  at- 
tempt to  conceal  imperfection  in  skill  by  mere  morbid  eccen- 
tricity. His  work  is  wholesome  and  masterly.  Believing  that 
art  is  expression,  he  also  believes  that  it  should  express  some- 
thing and  express  it  in  an  intelligible  manner.  Above  all  he 
does  not  believe  that  a  picture  is  a  work  of  art  in  the  proper 
sense  of  the  term  if  it  exhibits  mere  technique,  nor  does  it 
fail  to  be  a  work  of  art  if  it  contains  and  illustrates  an  idea. 

It  was  in  Cincinnati,  when  a  boy  of  ten,  when  young 
Mosler's  instincts  led  him  to  the  study  of  art  and  attracted 
the  attention  of  artists,  to  one  of  whom,  Mr.  Jas.  H.  Beard, 
Mr.  Mosler  looks  up  as  his  first  serious  preceptor  in  color  and 
form. 

When  Major  Anderson  visited  Cincinnati  in  1861,  immedi- 
ately after  the  fall  of  Sumter,  young  Mosler  made  a  sketch 


3 


of  the  public  reception  given  him  and  sent  it  to  "Harper's 
Weekly. "  It  was  accepted  and  an  engagement  was  made  with 
Mr.  Mosler  to  act  as  the  special  artist  in  the  West  for  that  jour- 
nal during  the  war.  At  the  instance  of  Buchanan  Read,  the 
poet-artist,  he  went  to  Dusseldorf,  to  study,  in  May,  1863. 
There  he  studied  drawing  under  Prof.  Mlicke,  Inspector  of  the 
Royal  Academy,  and  painting  under  Kindler. 

From  Dusseldorf  he  went  to  Paris  and  for  six  months 
studied  under  Hebert,  who  afterwards  had  charge  of  the  Ville 
de  Medicis,  the  French  Fine  Art  Academy  at  Rome.  As  a 
result  of  this  instruction,  although  it  lasted  but  for  a  brief  time, 
a  strong  personal  friendship  sprung  up  between  master  and 
pupil,  which  is  as  bright  and  warm  to-day  as  when  the  fire  was 
first  kindled. 

In  the  early  part  of  1866  Mr.  Mosler  returned  to  Cincin- 
nati, where  his  work  had  been  watched  with  the  greatest  in- 
terest and  where  his  advancement  during  his  absence  abroad 
had  been  closely  noted.  As  a  result  he  was  besieged  with 
orders  for  portraits  and  the  artistic  ambitions  of  his  soul  were 
subordinated  to  the  practical  side  of  his  otherwise  idealistic 
avocation.  He  managed,  however,  to  find  time  to  paint  some 
pictures,  the  most  conspicuous  and  best  known  one  being  '  'The 
Lost  Cause,"  an  incident  of  the  war,  showing  the  return  of  a 
Confederate  soldier  to  his  home,  only  to  find  it  tenantless  and 
deserted  by  all  but  the  wild  roses  and  the  flowering  vines  that 
tried  as  far  as  lay  in  them  to  make  amends  for  the  absent 
loved  ones.  This  picture  was  chromo  lithographed  and  a  large 
number  of  copies  were  sold.  Singular  to  say,  the  largest  sales 
were  made  throughout  the  South  and  among  those  upon  whom 
the  war  had  borne  its  hand  most  heavily.  The  original  was 
purchased  and  is  still  owned  by  Col.  Albert  S.  Berry,  of  New- 
port, Ky.,  who  had  been  a  colonel  in  the  Confederate  army 
and  who  has  recently  been  a  Member  of  Congress  from  that 
State. 

In  1869,  Mr.  Mosler  was  married  to  Miss  Sarah  Cahn,  of 
Cincinnati. 


4 


He  remained  in  America  until  1874,  most  of  the  time  at 
Cincinnati,  although  he  spent  the  year  1870  in  the  city  of  New- 
York,  painting  portraits. 

In  1874,  with  his  wife  and  son,  he  returned  to  Europe 
the  second  time,  going  to  Munich,  where  he  remained  three 
years.  While  at  Munich  he  studied  under  Wagner  and  also 
received  private  and  special  criticism  from  Piloty.  During 
his  stay  at  Munich  he  won  a  medal  of  the  Royal  Academy. 
He  painted  a  number  of  pictures,  but  there  were  no  large 
canvases  among  them. 

In  1877,  he  removed  to  Paris,  where  he  has  since  resided, 
until  the  fall  of  1894,  when  he  returned  to  his  native  city  of 
New  York,  to  again,  after  so  long  an  absence,  make  it  his 
home. 

He  w^as  not  able  to  work  for  several  months  after  his 
arrival  in  Paris  from  Munich.  The  art  atmosphere  of  Paris 
was  different  from  that  of  Dusseldorf  and  Munich  in  which 
he  had  been  living,  and  the  process  of  acclimatization  had  to 
be  gone  through  with  in  art  as  thoroughly  as  in  matters  of 
hygiene.  This  was  as  severe  an  effort,  if  not  more  so,  than 
were  his  early  lessons  as  a  novitiate  in  art.  He  painted  and 
repainted,  not  satisfied  with  his  work  until  after  a  persistence 
that  would  have  failed  a  less  talented  and  ambitious  artist, 
he  at  last  realized  that  he  was  in  touch  with  the  sentiment 
of  art  about  him.  The  French  school  of  art  was  less  con- 
ventional, more  animated  and  aggressive  than  the  Germ^an. 

In  1878,  he  sent  two  pictures,  "The  Quadroon  Girl,"  and 
"Early  Cares,"  to  the  Salon,  and  both  were  accepted,  and  he 
thus  became  identified  with  the  art  sentiment  of  Paris. 
"The  Quadroon  Girl"  was  purchased  by  Mr.  Henry  Stix,  of 
Cincinnati. 

In  1879,  he  sent  to  the  Salon  "  Le  Retour,"  better  known 
in  this  country  as  "The  Return  of  the  Prodigal  Son,"  an 
illustration  of  which  we  give  herewith,  and  "The  Women 
and  the  Secret, "  after  La  Fontaine's  well  known  fable.  These 
were  accepted. 


5 


Mr.  Mosler  visited  the  Salon  with  his  wife,  anxious  to 
ascertain  whether  his  pictures  had  received  favorable  locations. 
They  sought  throughout  the  galleries  for  the  pictures  without 
finding  them,  and,  greatly  disheartened,  were  about  leaving 
when  they  turned  into  the  Hall  of  Honor,  attracted  by  a  large 
crowd  about  a  picture  for  which  there  was  being  manifested 
the  most  enthusiastic  appreciation.  Naturally  being  interested 
to  see  a  picture  that  was  attracting  such  popular  attention, 
Mr.  Mosler  stepped  over  to  a  location  where  he  could  view 
it,  and  was  startled,  and  more  than  gratified,  to  find  that  it 
was  his  own  picture,  "Le  Retour."  The  public  had  set  its 
seal  of  approval  upon  his  work. 

For  this  picture,  now  so  well  known,  he  received  "Honor- 
able Mention,"  and  the  Minister  of  Fine  Arts  of  France  pur- 
chased it  for  the  gallery  of  the  Musee  de  Luxembourg.  This 
honor  was  the  greater  as  it  was  the  first  picture  that  the 
French  Government  had  ever  purchased  from  an  American 
artist. 

In  1880,  his  two  Salon  pictures  were  The  Spinning  Girl," 
which  was  purchased  by  the  Society  of  Fine  Arts  at  Grenoble, 
and  "The  Purchase  of  the  Wedding  Gown."  This  latter  pic- 
ture was  painted  upon  the  order  of  Mr.  Edmond  Turquet, 
Minister  of  Fine  Arts  of  France,  and  is  now  in  his  private 
collection. 

In  1881,  "The  Return  of  the  Fisher  Women, "owned  by 
Col.  Fleischmann,  of  Cincinnati,  lately  presented  to  the  Cin- 
cinnati Art  Museum,  where  it  now  hangs,  and  "The  Night 
After  the  Battle,"  owned  by  General  Lewis  Season  good,  of 
Cincinnati,  were  his  Salon  pictures. 

In  1882,  "The  Discussion  of  the  Marriage  Contract"  was 
exhibited  at  the  Salon.  This  was  purchased  by  Mr.  William 
vSchaus  for  George  I.  Seney,  of  New  York,  for  his  famous  col- 
lection. When  this  collection  was  sold  Mr.  Mosler's  picture 
was  purchased  by  Mr.  J.  S.  Barnes,  of  New  York,  for  his 
private  gallery. 

In  1883,  "The  Wedding  Morn,"  and  "A  Spinning  Girl," 


6 


Return  of  the  Prodigal  Son 

Paris  Salon,  1S79 

This  picture  received  an  Honorable  Mention  and  was  purchased 
by  the  Minister  of  Fine  Arts  for  the 
Museum  of  the  Luxembourg 


were  in  the  Salon.  "The  Wedding  Morn"  was  subsequently 
purchased  for  the  Museum  at  Sydney,  New  South  Wales, 
Australia. 

He  also  exhibited  in  Philadelphia  this  year  '*A  Rainy 
Day."  This  was  subsequently  purchased  by  Mr.  Temple,  and 
placed  in  the  Temple  Collection  at  the  Philadelphia  Academy 
of  Fine  Arts. 

In  1884,  "The  Last  Sacrament,"  now  owned  by  the  Poly- 
technic Association  of  Louisville,  Ky. ,  and  ' '  The  Village 
Clock  Maker,"  owned  at  Cincinnati,  were  exhibited.  This 
latter  picture  was  exhibited  in  the  Prize  Fund  Exhibition  at 
New  York  and  received  a  prize  of  $2,500. 

He  also  received  this  year  a  medal  at  the  International 
Exhibition,  at  Nice. 

In  1885,  "The  Approaching  Storm"  was  the  Salon 
picture. 

In  1886,  Mr.  Mosler  came  to  America  to  make  studies  for 
three  extra  large  canvases  of  distinctively  American  subjects, 
upon  the  order  of  Mr.  H.  H.  Warner,  of  Rochester,  N.  Y.  The 
life  and  customs  of  the  modern  American  Indian  appealed  to 
him  as  a  passing  story  that  had  not  been  given  the  recognition 
by  artists  to  VN^hich  its  importance  to  future  generations  entitled 
it.  Accompanied  by  his  old  friend,  C.  T.  Webber,  of  Cincinnati, 
one  of  the  ablest  genre  painters  that  America  has  produced,  he 
made  studies  for  these  pictures  in  New  Mexico  among  the 
Apache  tribe  of  Indians.  The  undertaking  was  filled  with  ex- 
citing features,  as  the  Indians  were  but  sullenly  polite  or  agree- 
able. Added  to  this  was  the  very  superstitious  objections  that 
the  Apaches  have  to  having  their  portraits  taken.  Notwith- 
standing their  difficulties,  both  Mr.  Mosler  and  Mr.  Webber 
brought  back  with  them  a  number  of  portraits,  studies  and  cos- 
tumes, arms  and  utensils  of  the  Indians.  Upon  his  return  to 
Paris,  Mr.  Mosler  painted  first  the  large  canvass,  10x14  feet, 
entitled  "  Abandoned,"  showing  one  of  the  customs  of  the  tribe 
in  abandoning  to  death  an  old  squaw  who,  on  account  of  her 
years,  is  unable  to  keep  up  with  the  tribe  on  its  march  when  on 


7 


the  war  path.  The  cruelty  of  this  scene  is  mitigated  somewhat 
by  the  presence  of  her  daughter  and  grand  daughter,  who  have 
determined  to  remain  with  the  old  woman  and  take  care  of  her 
until  the  final  relief  comes  that  will  make  her  indifferent  to  an 
injUvStice  the  enormity  of  which  the  Christian  religion  has  en- 
abled us  to  recognize. 

This  picture  together  with  one  in  a  distinctly  opposite  and 
happier  strain,  "  The  Visit  of  the  Marquise,"  were  exhibited  at 
the  Paris  Salon  of  1887. 

In  1887,  Mr.  Mosler  painted  the  second  of  his  two  large 
Indian  pictures,  this  being  entitled  ' '  The  White  Captive, " 
showing  the  burning  at  the  stake  by  the  Indians  of  a  white  cap- 
tive girl.  The  picture  is  a  fine  exhibition  of  Mr.  Mosler's 
ability  in  handling  strong  contrasts  of  light  and  shade,  for 
which  he  has  been  remarkable  since  boyhood.  In  this,  the  fire 
that  is  cruelly  depriving  the  beautiful  girl  of  her  life  is  the 
source  of  the  main  light  of  the  picture,  as  the  scene  is  in  the 
deep  woods  of  the  mountain,  through  the  trees  of  which  can 
only  occasionally  be  seen  the  deeply  blue  starlit  sky  that  is  ob- 
livious to  the  tragedy  that  is  being  enacted  in  the  shadows  that 
it  casts. 

This  picture  was  exhibited  at  the  Salon  of  1888,  together 
with  the  "Harvest  Dance,"  a  Brittany  scene,  and  for  which  he 
recived  the  Gold  Medal,  and  which  placed  him  "Hors  Con- 
cours"  at  the  Salon.  The  two  pictures,  "Abandoned"  and 
"The  White  Captive,"  are  the  property  of  Mr.  Stafford,  and 
are  at  the  present  time,  February,  1896,  on  exhibition  at  the 
Hotel  Imperial  galleries,  New  York. 

In  1889,  "The  Last  Moments"  was  exhibited  with  three 
other  pictures,  at  the  International  Exhibition  at  Paris.  He 
received  a  Medal  for  "The  Last  Moments." 

In  the  fall  of  1889,  he  again  came  to  America,  where  he  re- 
mained during  1890,  and  painted  the  third  of  his  three  large 
pictures,  the  last  one  being  entitled  "The  Husking  Bee,"  a 
distinctively  American  scene,  now  owned  by  Mr.  Lewis  G. 
Tewksbury,  New  York. 


8 


In  1 89 1,  he  exhibited  at  the  Salon  "  Good  Counsel,"  which 
was  purchased  by  Mr.  Haughian,  of  Brooklyn. 

In  1892,  ''The  Milking  Hour"  and  the  "Wedding  Feast," 
an  illustration  of  which  is  given  here,  were  exhibited  at  the 
Salon  with  great  success.  He  also  had  two  pictures,  ''The 
Broken  Sabot"  and  "The  Last  Moments,"  at  the  Royal  Acad- 
emy Exhibition,  London.  During  this  year  he  received  the 
titles  "Chevalier  de  la  Legion  d'Honneur"  and  also  that  of 
"Officier  d' Academic." 

In  1893,  "The  Chimney  Comer"  was  exhibited  at  the 
Salon. 

This  year  he  received  for  "The  Last  Moments"  the  only 
Gold  Medal  awarded  to  a  foreign  artist  by  the  Archduke  Carl 
Ludwig  of  Austria,  at  the  exhibition  of  Vienna. 

In  1894,  "The  Brittany  Legend,"  which  was  painted  with  a 
freer  technique  than  usual  with  him,  was  exhibited  at  the  Salon 
and  attracted  a  great  deal  of  favorable  comment.  "A  Nor- 
mandy Garden  "  was  also  exhibited  at  the  Salon. 

In  the  fall  of  the  same  year,  Mr.  M osier  returned  with  his 
family  to  New  York  and  established  his  studio  in  the  Carnegie 
studios. 

In  the  spring  of  1895,  Mr.  John  Olmstead  purchased  "The 
Village  Tinker"  for  the  new  Springfield,  Mass.,  Museum.  In 
the  fall,  Mr.  Andrew  Carnegie  bought  for  his  private  collection, 
"Mending  the  Net." 

Mr.  Mosler  is  an  Associate  Member  of  the  National  Acad- 
emy of  Design,  which  elected  him  at  the  spring  exhibition, 
1895- 

JOHN  1.  COVINGTON. 


9 


€atalodue 


no.  1 

meditations  at  m  mw 

no.  2 

ZM  Broken  SaDot 

no.  $ 

the  £bimitey  Corner 

no.  4 

Cbe  Cast  moments 

no.  5 

CDe  Coquette,  ist  Empire 

no.  6 
Cbe  lUeddind  7east 

no.  7 

Pouting,  Brittany 

no.  $ 

Sunday  Httire 

no.  ^ 

mere  brittle,  normandy 

no.  10 
nn  Old  Sea  Ulolf 


Catalogue 

€ontinuea 


15  ^  ^ 

no«  II 

Bmtm,  Brittany 
no.  12 

CDe  mmm  Qum 

no.  n 
mm  Canal,  Uenlce 

no.  14 

Tnatistry 

no.  15 

H  Ueteran 

no.  16 
Rari^estm'  Repose 

no.  17 
mediterranean  Sailor 

no.  1$ 
H  Capri  mater  Carrier 

no.  19 

firandmotfter's  Spare  BoMr 

no.  20 

normandy  Sailor  flsbore 


II 


Catalogue 

Continuea 
«  t5  ^ 


no,  21 

Sweet  £\mT 

Ho,  22 

m  first  Uisit 
no,  2S 

no,  24 

the  €on$onn9  Pipe 

no,  25 

n  Rainy  Day 

no,  26 
Cbe  Old  mottdstery,  Capri 

no,  27 

Jf  Dutcft  lUittdmill 


THE    REPUBLIC  PRFSS 
14  LAFAYETTE  PLACE 
N  V 


12 


Tmpomr  ana  Dealer  in  foreign  ana 
American  Paintings 
36$  Tiftft  flwenue 
new  XorR 


edlleries 
Open  Tree 
to  all 
Qisitors 


Selected 
Pictures  Dy 
eeleDrated 

Artists 


establlsbed 
Over 
CWrty 
years 


